Automatic mail-delivery apparatus



No. 751,465. PATBNTED H33. 9', 1904.- I. F. 001.3. AUTOMATIC MAILDBLIVBRY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR 9. 1903.

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WITNESSES No. 751,465. PATENTED FEB. 9, 1904. I. r. COLE. AUTOMATIC MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

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W I 'INBEEEE No. 751,46.5.. PATENTED FEB. 9, 1904.

' I. F. COLE.

AUTOMATIC MAIL DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APILIOATION FILED APR. 9. 1903,

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' UNITED STAT S Patented February 9,1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

AUTOMATIC MAIL-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 751,465, dated February 9, 1904. Application filed April 9,1903. Serial N0. 151,329. (No model.) I Q I Toctll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IsAAo F. COLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVilliamsfield, in the county of Knox and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Mail-Delivery Apparatus and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the in and relates particularly to'mechanism for use on rural mail-routes.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device that can be'loaded with mail at the post-oflice and sent out through the country to automatically deliver the mail to the respective receiving-boxes along the route.

Another object is to provide a device which will receive mail from boxes along the route from those having mail to be sent to other localities, this collection being made automatically as the device proceeds on its, journey.

. In a former application filed by me onthe 19th day of November, 1902, Serial No. 132, 036, a inaildelivery apparatus is described and shown for automatically delivering mail, but does not include means for collecting mail en route.

It is the object, therefore, of the present application to'include" this feature besides hav ing difl'erent IIIBSIIS'IEOI operating the mailholding receptacles for delivering the mail into the receiving-boxes.

The invention further relates to other details of construction, as will be pointed out in the specification and claims appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a mail-car hung from a track, showing receiving and delivering mail-boxes adjacent to such car. Fig. 2is a plan view of the car in section, showing the interiorarrangement. Fig. 3 is a front view of the car and the delivering and receiving boxes. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of mail-box, into which the residents along the mail-route deposit their outgoing mail for delivery into the mail-car, said figure showing a .portion of the mail-car and means thereon for operating the delivery portionof said box. Fig.5 is a perspective view of a device for assisting in dropping the mail from the car into the receiving-boxes along the route. of the receiving-box at the roadside. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a clamping-plate for assisting in holding the mail within the car. Fig. 8 is a detail view of the mail-holding plates and certain portions for assisting in separating the plates" to drop the mail. Fig. 9 is aside view of the car, its track, the mailboxesalong the route, and a device at the side of the road for releasing certain parts, all of which will be described. Fig. 10 is a side Fig. 6 is a perspective view view of a modified means of propelling the car at each end. In the rear end of the lattermember is located an electric motor E, connected through a pair of trolleys F with overhead current-conducting wires H, said trolleys being insulated from each other and from the car, so that the current can be conducted along one wire H down through the motor and out and back on the remaining wire, all of which will .be readily understood. Other means of locomotion can of course be employed, since I attach no claim whatever to The said trackthis portion of the apparatus. B and the wires H are suitably carried by brackets B, attached to posts B and these two portions-2'. 6., the track andthe wires are suitably insulated from one another, so

that no short circuits will be possible. The body of the car is composed of sheet metal, the front of which is preferably pointed, soas to present a windcuttingform; 'Journaled in the sides of said body, near each end, is a transverse horizontal shaft Leach carrying a pair of sprocket-wheels in about the position shown in Fig. 2. A sprocket-chain K runs over complementary pairs of these wheels J so that the two chains travel together or at exactly the same rate of speed. So far the device is almost identical with that described in the former application above referred to; but just here the changes in the balance of the device will be noted. Secured to certain of the links of the chains K are plates L by brackets M, Fig. 8, or other suitable means, which will hold the plates at right angles to the length of said links. Adjacent to each plate L is a plate N, which is made shiftable to and from said plate L by sliding upon a pin 0, secured to the latter. The plate N is provided with a hole P, Fig. 7, slightly larger than the said pin 0, so that said plate is perfectly free to move, as stated. The pin is provided with a head, and between the head and the movable plate a spring Q, is placed, which surrounds said pin and normally keeps the plate N against L. It will be noted that the pins 0 are placed at each end of the pairs of plates, so that these latter members will move N bodily away from L without tipping or binding. As in my former device, the chains and their plates are designed to move in an intermittent manner, so as to bring each pair of plates at a certain point for delivery of the mail held between them. The means employed for setting up such movement consists in first securing upon one end of the front shaft J a spider or star-wheel R, having four arms, as shown. These arms are adapted to contact with a vertical arm S, secured to the box T, used for receiving the mail. The said box T is mounted on a post U, Fig. 9, and as the car passes over it the said arm S is met by one of the arms of the wheel R, and this turns the said wheel onequarter of a full revolution. The result of this movement will appear presently. At V is a rock-shaft, (better shown in Fig. 5 in perspective,) which is carried at each end in the sides of the body A or in any other desired manner. Secured near each end of this shaft is a hook W, extending in a rearward direction. Also secured to this shaft, also at one end, is an arm 1, extending forward and downward, substantially as shown. The said arm is held down by means of a spring 2 connected at one end to an arm of said shaft, the opposite end of the spring having connection with the side of the car, as in Fig. 1. While this. holds the arm 1 down, it also keeps the hooks raised to about the position shown in said Fig. 1 and in Fig. 8. At each end of the plate N is a projection 4, which rests upon and slides along a horizontal guide 5, Figs. 1 and 8. The said hooks W are designed to receive and hold the projection 4 of each plate as it is moved along the guide 5. It will be understood that the mail to be delivered is clamped between the plates L and N, the pressure of the springs Q, being suflicient to hold the mail firmly, so that it cannot be dislodged by jarring, the plates being corrugated to fit the dotted-line position.

into one another to further assist in clamping such mail. By referring to Figs. 1 and 8 it will be noted that the plates N, bearing the projections 1, are behind and follow the plates L, so that by the movement of the latter toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, the plates N will be caught by the hooks W, as shown in Fig. 8, by means of the said projections on the said plates. In Fig. 1 the star-wheel R is about to strike the arm S on the box T as the car moves toward the right, and, as before stated, the wheel will be given a quarter-turn.

the quarter-turn described only the amount of movement necessary to accomplish the above will take place. At the time this action re sults the separated plates are positioned above the box T, which is opened automatically to receive the mail. The means for opening said box is quite simple and consists first in securing to the car a rail 6, extending along both sides of the car and pointed at the front end, as shown. This rail forms a wedge which is designed to enter between and separate ears 7 secured to two top portions of the said box T. Said portions are carried on arms 8, pivoted at their lower ends to the ends of the box. The portions are formed in the arc of a circle, the center of which would lie at the pivot of the said arms 8. The box is also formed in the same curve, so as to permit the top portions to move freely without binding. One of the latter overlaps the other at the middle, so that rain and snow will be excluded. Springs 9 serve to normally keep the top closed and are attached to the arms 8, their adjacent ends being fastened to the end of the box, as at 10, in suitable manner. Fig. 3 shows how the covers are separated by the car passing between the ears 7. As the car enters between them the rail 6 forces them apart to When the car has passed entirely through, the springs 9 close the cover portions together, as before. While open, the mail is dropped into the box by the means already described.

At any time after the car has left the box and before reaching the next one the hooks W must be moved to release the plate N, so that these members can move to the rear and the next pair of plates brought into position for releasing the mail therefrom. This may be accomplished by placing at any desired point a stop, against which the arm 1 of the rockshaft V may strike to raise said arm and lower the said hooks W. In Fig. 9 is shown the manner in which I accomplish this, though of course some other means may be employed,

permitting the plate N to return to its position against the plate L by pressure of the spring Q. As the next mail -box is reached thespider or star-wheel is again moved and the mail dropped while the box is open, as before described. Between this box and the next the stop 12 is again located to serve in releasing the plates N,'as before. Thus far I have described the mail-car in so far as it relates to the delivery of the mail along the route, and Iwill now direct attention to the receiving means on the car for taking the mail from the roadside. In carrying out this portion of the apparatus a box 13 is carried in suitable manner at one side of the car, as

shown in Fig. 3. This box is constructed in the same way as the boxT, already described,

and is carried with the car at all times. On.

a postli at the side of the route is secured, by a suitable bracket, a'box 15, which hangs just above the box l3,'as shown in said Fig. 3. This box is provided with a rail 17 similar to that shown' at 6 in Figs. 1 and 2, and

serves to open the covers 18 of the box 13 by means of the ears 19 of said covers. In this case the rail-17 is stationary, while the box which it is designed to open travels with the car, as explained. The box 15 is provided with a lid 20, which the party who mails his letter raises and beneath which he deposits his letter into the box. 1 The latter is shaped like a hopper insidethat is to say, a portion of its bottom is slanted toward the middle of the box, as shown in both Figs. 3 and 4. The other portion of the bottom is apivotal member 22, being carried on ashaft 21, Fig. 4, to which said pivotal member 22 is secured. The outer end of the shaft 21 carries an arm 23 outside the box, one end of which has a spring 24 attached thereto at one end, its other end secured to said box. The free end of the arm extends toward the passing car A and is engaged by a depressing member 25, secured to the top of the car, as shown,-Figs. 1, 3, and

4. Thismember 25 is merely a wire bent into the form shown, with an overhanging limb 26, one portion of which is higher than the other and forming a slanting guide. It will be seen that as the car moves toward the box the member 26 will meet the arm- 23, and as said car moves the said arm will gradually be de-. pressed, and this action will open the movable drum driven by an engine or other power at member 22, so that any mail within the box will be instantly dropped out. Simultaneous with this action the rail 17 on the box 15 opens the cover of the box- 13, and the mail is caught therein. At each residence the same operation takes place. After the passage of the car the arm 23 regains its normal position by the pull of the spring 24:, and this also closes the member 22, thereby placing the box 15 in condition for receiving moremail to be caught by the car in its next trip over the route.

By what has been stated it will be seen that the apparatus is perfectly automatic in its ac-- tion and gathers and delivers the mail at each station as it passes along without stopping. The mail for the various boxes along the route is placed between pairs of the plates L N in such order that as each station is reached the mail intended therefor is liberated in the manner described. I have illustrated'in Figs. 10 and 11 a modified form of'the means for propelling the car along the track. In lieu'of a self contained power of any kind a cable 27 is provided, which runs over pulleys secured to posts, one of which is shown at 28 in the figures named. Attached to the cable is over hanging arm 29, attachedto the top of the car. The cable extends entirely around the route to be traversed and is carried on the pulleys mentioned. The car is attached to the cable by means of the said arm 29, so that the former is not hindered in passing over the said pul-. leys. The cable is driven by passing over a the post-office. By this means the car must complete its full circuit, and snow or ice on the supporting-track will notaflect it, as would be the case with the power within the car, unless the track were protected by a housing or the like to keep the ice from the same.

I desire to makeit understood thatI do not io5 I Wish to limit myself to the construction shown and described, as other equivalent means may be employed, as will be understood.

Separate cars may be fitted out, one" for 001 lecting and the other for delivery, if desired,

and in this way the cars'will not be as heavy as when both operating portions are combined and when both the collected mail and that to be delivered are carried at the same time. Evidentlythe car'itself would-bathe receiver, and the delivery-boxes along the route would deposit their contents into it.

I claim 1. An automatic mail delivery apparatus comprising a car, a track for carrying the same,

a mail-receiver for the car, the'same having a 'spring-closed' top 1n combination with mailcontaining boxes situated along the mail-route, 7

means thereon for opening the spring-controlled top of the receptacle on the car which passes beneath, a spring-closed 'bottom for the mail-containers and means on the car for automatically opening said bottom to drop the mail into the receptacle on the car when the two members are vertically in line with one another as described.

2. An automatic mail-collecting apparatus comprising a car A, a track B for carrying the same, a mail-receiver 13 carried by the car, spring-closed covers 18 therefor, lugs 19 for opening the covers, in combination with maildelivery boxes 15 situated along the mailroute, the spring-closed bottoms 22 therein, the members 25 on the car, levers 23 for opening the bottoms 22 by contact with the said members 25, spreading rails 17 on the container 15 for opening the covers 18 by contact of the lugs 19 thereagainst all arranged substantially as shown and described to open the delivery-boxes and receivers simultaneously.

3. An automatic mail delivery and receiving apparatus, comprising a car for carrying the several packages of mail to be delivered, an endless carrier within the car, means for supporting and carrying said carrier, a series of pairs of plates on said carrier for receiving and holding the mail-packages, one of each of said pairs of plates being secured rigidly to the carrier, the other plate having yielding connection with such rigid plate, means for shifting the carrier in an intermittent manner for placing the pairs of plates in position for delivery of the mail held between them, and other means for engaging and holding the yielding plates of the pairs of plates during the movement of the carrier whereby such yielding plates are held while the fixed plates move away therefrom to thereby release the mail held between them.

4. An automatic mail delivery and receiving apparatus comprising a car for containing the mail to be distributed, an endless carrier within such car, a series of pairs of plates on such carrier between which the mail is held, such pairs of plates adapted to deliver their mail in successive order, means for shifting the carrier and its plates, means for separating said plates to drop the mail from between them, in combination with mail-boxes placed along the route, and means on the car for opening them to receive the mail from said car simultaneous with the separation of the plates of the carrier. a

5. An automatic mail delivery and receiving apparatus comprising a car for containing the mail to be distributed, an endless carrier with the car, a series of pairs of plates on such carrier between which the mail is held, such pairs of plates adapted to deliver their mail in successive order, means for shifting the carrier and its plates, means for separating said plates to drop the mail from between them into receptacles along the route, there being a series of mail-delivery boxes along the route from which mail is received .by the car, a receptacle carried by said car, means on the latter for opening the said delivery-boxes in successive order as they are met to permit the mail to pass therefrom into the said receptacle on the car, and means for opening said receptacle at the same time that the mail is released from the delivery-box.

6. An automatic mail delivery and receiving apparatus comprising a car A for containing the mail to be distributed, an endless carrier within the car consisting of the sprocketchains K K, means for carrying said chains which comprises the sprocket-wheels J J, the shafts I 1 on which they are mounted, the star-wheel R on one of the shafts for use in turning said sprocket-wheels and the carrier, pairs of plates L, N carried on the chains, said plates N yieldingly connected to the plates L, projections 1 on the ends of the said plates N extending beyond the ends of the plate L, means for engaging said projections and holding the plate while the carrier moves to carry the plate L away from N for releasing the mail held between the plates said means being afterward operated to release the plates for the purposes set forth and described. a

7. An automatic mail delivery and receiving apparatus comprising a car A for containing the mail to be delivered, a carrier for the mail consisting of the sprocket chains K, the sprockets J for the chains, the star-wheel R, the shafts I on which the sprockets are mounted and one of which carries the said starwheel, a series of plates L rigidly secured to the chains, a series of yielding plates N attached to the plates L, there being projections on the latter, a rock-shaft V journaled in the body A transversely of the'said body, hooks W connected to said shaft and extending upward and rearward from such shaft, a forward and downwardly extending arm 1 on the shaft V, and a spring 2 for normally retaining said hooks and-the said arm in the position named for the purposes set forth, in combination with a series of mail-boxes placed along the mail-route and adapted to be opened by the car in its passage over them, substantially as described.

8. An automatic mail-delivery apparatus comprising a car A, a receptacle 13 carried thereby for receiving mail, the separable covers 18 therefor, the arms 19 on said covers, means within the box for normally keeping the covers together, in combination with a receptacle at the roadside for holdingmail to be collected by said car, which consists of the box 15 the lid 20 beneath which the mail is deposited, the pivotal bottom 22, the arm 23 for operating it, means for normally keeping the said bottom 22 closed to retain the mail within the box, and means on the car for depressing the said arm 23 to open the said bottom 22 to release the mail, and means on the box for contacting with the arms 19 to separate the covers 18 of the box 13 simultaneous with opening of the bottom 22 substantially as described.

9. ln'a mail-delivery apparatus, an overhead track, a car adapted to travel thereon, a mail-carrying member within the car adapted for delivery of mail-packages by gravity, a mail-receiver at intervals along the route of the car, said car passing over such receiver, a spring-closed covering for the receiver, the car adapted to open the same for dropping the mail into such receiver, and means for simultaneously releasing the mail packages from the mail-carrier within the car to enter said receptacle substantially as described, the covering afterward closing the same.

10. In a mail receiving and. delivering apparatus, a car, a track for the same, a mailreceiver carried by the car, a stationary maildelivery box at the roadside, the former having two spring-closed cover-sections adapted to be separated by the passage thereof beneath the mail-loci to open the receiver, means for simultaneously releasing the mail from the box to deposit it into such opened receiver, a

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC F. COLE.

Witnesses: E. J. ABERsoL, L. M. THURLOW. 

